Prairies

Prairies


How secrecy and regulatory capture drove Alberta’s oil and gas liability crisis

This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. “A hustle in the oil patch”, a “dirty legacy”: These are just a couple of the ways that the escalating costs of abandoning and reclaiming non-producing […]

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Embattled energy company fights regulator over seizure of thousands of wells

CALGARY — An embattled Calgary energy company is fighting the provincial regulator’s decision to seize thousands of its inactive wells. AlphaBow Energy has complained to the Alberta ombudsman and the province’s information and privacy commissioner over the Alberta Energy Regulator transferring control of more than 6,000 wells, pipeline segments and other facilities to the Orphan […]

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RCMP technology ‘between contracts,’ unavailable at first for Saskatchewan killings

SASKATOON — A technology used by a specialized RCMP team to search for people in high-risk situations was not immediately available as Mounties responded to a stabbing rampage and the hunt for a mass killer in Saskatchewan because it was held up under the federal procurement process. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show […]

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Cyberattack on government service provider exposes records of 1.4 million Albertans

EDMONTON — An Alberta government service provider says the records of more than 1.4 million residents were the target of a cyberattack last month. Alberta Dental Service Corporation says in a news release that a third party gained unauthorized access to part of its information technology infrastructure. It says that third party was able to […]

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Executive at Manitoba Crown corporation was reimbursed for flights, hotels and more

WINNIPEG — A senior executive at a Manitoba Crown corporation was sometimes being reimbursed for travel to Winnipeg from his home in the Toronto area twice a month, figures obtained by The Canadian Press show. The newly released detailed breakdown of expenses, which also includes hotel stays and meals, was obtained under the province’s freedom […]

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Manitoba government planned a COVID 19 video and song for project that was abandoned

WINNIPEG — In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manitoba government laid out plans for a video to reflect on the effects of the novel coronavirus, complete with a song commissioned from noted singer-songwriter Sierra Noble. But the project, revealed in documents obtained by The Canadian Press, was abandoned. And while the song has […]

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‘Old boys’ club’: Employees question how Regina rebrand was approved

REGINA — Federal government employees expressed relief that Prairies Economic Development Canada was not involved in a disastrous rebrand that saw Saskatchewan’s capital city criticized for sexualized slogans. Messages in a group chat obtained under freedom of information laws show federal employees were shocked by Tourism Regina’s campaign. All names of employees have been redacted. […]

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Manitoba school divisions added to index of `high risk industries’

Manitoba public schools were reprimanded for shoddy electrical work, missing first aid kits and allowing asbestos to become airborne, among unsafe conditions provincial investigators uncovered in 2022-23. Last summer, the department of workplace safety and health added school divisions to its index of “high-risk industries” — a group with significantly higher-than-average employee injury rates. The […]

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City of Winnipeg orders protesters at landfill to restore access by Monday at noon

WINNIPEG — The City of Winnipeg has ordered protesters who have been blocking access to a landfill in support of a search for the remains of two Indigenous women to leave the area. In an email, the city says it issued an Order to Vacate in accordance with the Emergency Management Bylaw late Friday afternoon […]

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Saskatchewan immigration ministry fires more employees over privacy breach

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s immigration ministry has fired more employees for inappropriately accessing client records. The ministry says an audit found three additional instances of former employees obtaining records they were not authorized to view. The discovery follows an initial investigation that found one former employee had accessed 40 files as part of an alleged illegal […]

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Saskatchewan privacy commissioner flags alleged illegal immigration scheme

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s justice department is investigating a former government employee who was found to have inappropriately accessed personal information as part of an alleged illegal immigration scheme. Richelle Bourgoin, the province’s deputy minister of immigration and career training, said Wednesday that prosecutors are looking into whether to lay charges after the ministry found the […]

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Appeal Court denies release of man who killed five people in Calgary

EDMONTON — A man who stabbed five young people to death at a Calgary house party will not be released from a group home after a ruling Thursday from Alberta’s highest court. Matthew de Grood, who is now in his early 30s, was found not criminally responsible in 2016 for the killings of Zackariah Rathwell, […]

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